Parliament was unanimous and hard-hitting in its response to Pakistan's resolution on Afzal Guru’s hanging. “This House totally rejects the resolution passed by the National Assembly of Pakistan on March 14, 2013. The House notes that Pakistan has committed that it would not allow its territory to be used against India and only the fulfillment of this comment can be the basis for peaceful relations with it. The House rejects interference in the internal affairs of India and calls upon the National Assembly of Pakistan to desist from such acts of support for extremist and terrorist elements,” the Indian motion said.
The resolution, drafted after consultations between the foreign ministry and political parties, also recalled the resolution Parliament had passed in 1994 signalling that India was not reconciled to the loss of part of J&K to Pakistan.
“The House reiterates that the entire state of Jammu & Kashmir, including the territory under illegal occupation of Pakistan, is and shall always be an integral part of India. Any attempt from any quarter to interfere in the internal affairs of India will be met resolutely and with complete unity of our nation,” it said.
Read out by Speaker Meira Kumar in the Lok Sabha and Chairman Hamid Ansari in the Rajya Sabha, the resolution marked a significant hardening of stand and can cramp the elbow room for initiatives to restore normal business with Pakistan.
Trying to fish in troubled waters, Pakistan's parliament on Thursday passed a resolution condemning the hanging of Afzal Guru and demanded the return of his body to his family.
Two days before it completes its five-year term, the National Assembly or lower house of parliament passed the resolution moved by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who heads a special parliamentary panel on Kashmir.
Besides condemning the hanging of Guru, 2001 Parliament attack convict, the resolution expressed concern at the situation created in Jammu and Kashmir by the execution.
The house called for Guru's body to be handed over to his family. Guru was hanged and buried within Tihar Jail in Delhi on February 9.
His execution triggered protests in Jammu and Kashmir.
Pakistan-based terror groups like the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed have vowed to take revenge for the hanging.
The parliamentary resolution further said the international community should not remain as silent spectators in efforts to find a solution to the Kashmir dispute.
It said steps should be taken to implement the United Nations Security Council's resolutions on the Kashmir issue.
The resolution called for an end to alleged killings in Jammu and Kashmir and the removal of the Army from towns and cities of the Kashmir Valley.
It further said all prisoners should be freed, "black laws" repealed and curfew withdrawn from the region.
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